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Professor suspended for silent protest reinstated

The Associated Press

Updated:
01/26/2014 05:51:28 PM EST

BOULDER, Colo.—A religious studies professor in Colorado who was suspended after his silent protest against alleged racial bias led to complaints about his refusal to speak during classes has been reinstated.

The Daily Camera reports (http://bit.ly/M1pf1X ) Naropa University professor Don Matthews was reinstated after the start of the spring semester, which began Jan. 13, and has hired an attorney to negotiate the terms of his employment at the school.

Matthews was suspended in December after staging a silent protest that extended into the classroom—and after university officials said dozens of students complained about him in recent months.

Matthews, who is black, says the university has displayed institutional racism, and his case is being investigated by the National Labor Relations Board.